I enjoyed reading the 22nd word and agree with most of it. Was
your point that God will work out a way through this struggle for
the righteous? Because it has been my experience that God
helps those who help themselves first.

The author also seems to think that religion trumps science
when it comes to truth. I agree, but the search for both religious
and scientific truth has stopped in much of the Islamic world.
When you think that you have all the answers, and that no more
will be forthcoming from God, it is easy to let the rest of the
world pass you by. That's exactly what happenned when the
region cut itself off from the outside world.

I got my info on populations from a religious self identification
survey conducted from 1990- 2001. You can look at the key
findings on this page:

http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm

As for the American people, they voted for Bush in 2000
because they thought he was a moderate, and he still techn
ically lost! It was only after 9/11 that
he (or rather Cheney and the other reactionaries in his admin)
showed their true colors. The 2004 elections are more difficult
to explain. Part of it was that Kerry never showed any sort of
vision or comprehensive plan for Iraq. Part of it was the ability
of conservative churches to mobilize around such social issues
as abortion and gay marriage.

Spain for example chose to deal with terrorism as a law
enforcement problem after the Madrid bombings, and not as a
war on terror like America. The people did not ask for a war to
be declared, but just went along with their leaders because of
fear and ignorance. If you want to know why the leaders chose
this path though, then you have to look at the PNAC, the
neoconservative think tank whose members include Wolfowitz,
Rumsfeld, Cheney and others in power today:

But, in order to unleash their foreign/military
campaigns without taking all sorts of flak from the traditional
wing of the conservative GOP – which was more isolationist,
more opposed to expanding the role of the federal government,
more opposed to military adventurism abroad – they needed a
context that would permit them free rein. The events of 9/11
rode to their rescue. (In one of their major reports, written in
2000, they noted that "the process of transformation, even if it
brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent
some catastrophic and catalyzing even – like a new Pearl
Harbor.")

After those terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration used the
fear generated in the general populace as their cover for
enacting all sorts of draconian measures domestically (the
Patriot Act, drafted earlier, was rushed through Congress in the
days following 9/11; few members even read it), and as their
rationalization for launching military campaigns abroad. (Don't
get me wrong. The Islamic fanatics that use terror as their
political weapon are real and deadly and need to be stopped.
The question is: How to do that in ways that enhance rather
than detract from America's long-term national interest?)

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/weiner6.html

^The above essay is a good primer on the PNAC's objectives,
history and role in how we got where we are today.^

oxbow, without a doubt you have a good heart. I've been down your road before (during the Reagan years) and found it fruitless, but I don't see any reason to try to discourage you. You go give it to 'em!

Thank you Yusuf! Your well-wishing means a lot. May God help both of us fulfill our destinies in life!

btw-how would you compare our situation now versus during the Reagan years? Most people say this is much worse from what I've heard.

Worse, but not really that much. Reagan set in motion much of the fascist mentality that is now taking over. What was worse about the Reagan years is that so many people were duped by him. An overwhelming majority loved him, so it was very difficult to oppose his policies.

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